1. Technical Field
Generally, the invention relates to a rotary floor prepping device. More particularly, the invention relates to a rotary floor prepping device which includes a substantially rigid upper disk with a resilient connector affixed at an upper surface thereof. A plurality of pins are used to removably mount the connector and upper disk to the rotary disk mount. One or more floor surfacing devices mount to the upper disk depending downwardly therefrom for prepping the floor surface. Specifically, the invention relates to a rotary resurfacing disk for removing material from a floor surface having a substantially rigid upper disk with a plurality of resilient, replaceable grommets affixed at an upper surface thereof. A plurality of pins are used to removably mount the grommets and upper disk to the rotary disk mount. One or more floor surfacing devices mount to the upper disk or to a resilient lower disk mounted below the upper disk depending downwardly therefrom for surfacing the floor surface as the resurfacing disk moves thereon.
2. Background Information
Various scraping, grinding, and sand blasting machines have been designed over the years to resurface floors necessitated due to wear and damage to floor surfaces over long periods of repeated and continuous use. For example, painted concrete floors are often resurfaced after the existing paint becomes chipped and the floor surface becomes pitted. Carpeting, linoleum tiles, and other floor coverings are often originally secured to the floor using an adhesive to prevent movement, but these floor coverings become worn, loose, or cracked over time. When these floor coverings are taken for replacement such as by using hand scrapers and other tools, the exposed floor surface with remaining floor covering and hardened adhesive is typically very rough. Before applying a new covering to the floor such as by repainting, applying linoleum tile, carpeting, or the like, it is usually required that any remaining paint, linoleum, carpet padding, or hardened adhesive of the previous floor covering be removed by resurfacing the floor.
One type of resurfacing machine often used to resurface floors is a small, hand-held grinding machine which utilizes grinding pads. The grinding machine is moved along the floor surface by an operator from a kneeling position on the floor surface. While these grinding machines are convenient to transport to the site where the floor to be resurfaced is located, they cover only a small surface area with each pass along the floor surface and thus require considerable time to grind or sand even small areas of the floor.
Larger wheeled resurfacing machines have thus been developed which utilize larger grinding pads or cutting blades to resurface larger areas of the floor more efficiently and expediently. Such resurfacing machines typically have a wheeled chassis supporting a motor which drives a rotary floor grinding mechanism and resurfacing disk. An upstanding push handle extends from the chassis to allow the operator to stand during operation rather than kneel. Thus, these resurfacing machines cover a much larger floor area with each pass and are easier to operate than the hand-held grinding machines.
One example of such a larger wheeled resurfacing machines is a multi-disk floor grinding machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,277 issued to Duncan, et al. The floor grinding machine has a wheeled chassis which may be moved about the floor surface using an upstanding handle attached thereto. The chassis supports a bearing housing mounted on gimbals which pivot about an axis parallel to the floor surface to allow the bearing housing to vary in orientation to the floor surface as the floor grinding machine is moved across uneven floor surfaces. The bearing housing supports a main drive shaft which extends downwardly from the bearing housing rotatable relative thereto on bearings. A resurfacing disk mounting frame is rotatably mounted about the main drive shaft and is driven in rotation at a greatly reduced speed relative to the main drive shaft. The resurfacing disk mounting frame carries a plurality of disk mounts to which respective resurfacing disks in the form of grinding pads are mounted. The disk mounts and grinding pads are driven by the main drive shaft at an increased speed relative thereto. The grinding pads rotate about their own axes, and also about the axis of the main drive shaft so as to cover a larger floor area with each pass to reduce the time required to grind the floor surface.
While the larger wheeled resurfacing machines such as the multi-disk floor grinding machine of Duncan, et al. are easier to operate and cover more surface area per pass than the hand-held grinders, the resurfacing disks do not pivot adequately to allow the grinding pads to closely conform to the floor surface.
In an effort to improve this deficiency, some multi-disc floor grinding machines utilize a plurality of mounting pins to mount the resurfacing disks to the rotary disk mounts. The resurfacing disks include a rigid disk with a resilient connector affixed at an upper surface thereof. A plurality of the mounting pins, typically four disposed in a square pattern, fit in corresponding holes of the resilient connector to removably mount the connector and upper disk to the rotary disk mount. One or more downwardly dependent floor resurfacing devices mount to a lower surface of the upper disk for engaging the floor surface. The pins and the resilient connector allow the floor resurfacing devices to more closely follow the contours of the floor surface. While this arrangement is better than having a rigid connection between the disk mounts and the resurfacing disks, the resilient connector are prone to wear out overtime and are not readily replaceable.
A variety of other resurfacing disks and mounting arrangements have been developed for use with the rotary floor grinding machines which provide some degree of resiliency between the rotary disk mounts and the floor resurfacing devices. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,085 issued to Marafante et al. is disclosed a floor cleaning disk for use in multi-disc floor treatment machines having three cleaning heads. A clip mechanism allows the disks to gimbal on uneven floor surfaces to allow better cleaning of such floor surfaces. U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,449 issued to Hilton discloses a sanding pad which includes a flexible foam material. The foam is positioned between a pad base and an abrasive surface which contacts the floor surface. When the sanding pad comes into contact with the floor surface, the foam deforms to maintain the abrasive surface in contact with the floor surface to provide even sanding thereof. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,362 issued to McAleer is disclosed a sanding pad which includes a rigid rotary member and a sanding layer, with a flexible foam layer of two different foam materials sandwiched therebetween. The foam layer comprise a core and an outer layer, one of the layers being made from a harder foam than the other. The harder foam layer helps to prevent the softer foam layer from being destroyed during sanding. U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,176 issued to Parks discloses a pad holder for a floor polisher which has flexible arms onto which a polishing surface is mounted. The flexible arms operate independently to permit the pad to polish uneven floor surfaces. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,143 issued to Peterson et al. is disclosed a disk which includes a plurality of abrading elements which are spring-mounted into the disk. The springs provide the flexibility needed for the disk to travel over uneven surfaces while allowing the abrading elements to stay in contact with the floor surface. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 2,950,583 issued to Nilsson discloses disks which include a cushioning layer that is positioned between a body of the disk and an abrasive layer of surface treatment material. The cushioning layer has a series of annular rings or ribs made of plastic or rubber which yield to permit the abrasive layer to conform to the floor surface.
While these resurfacing disks and mounting arrangements may provide some degree of resiliency between the rotary disk mounts and the floor resurfacing devices, most are relatively complicated in design and are not built rugged enough for continuous use on industrial floor resurfacing machines.
Although these resurfacing disks and mounting arrangements are adequate for the purpose for which they were intended, they have the aforementioned shortcomings. Therefore, the need exists for an improved resurfacing disk for floor resurfacing machines which has resilient connectors mounted on a substantially rigid disk to pivot adequately for the floor resurfacing devices to conform to the floor surface. The resilient connectors would be individually replaceable in an easy manner to save time and money. The resurfacing disks would be relatively uncomplicated in design and built rugged enough for continuous use on industrial floor resurfacing machines.